Moving from Colorado (Portland, Lewiston, Bangor: to rent, houses, neighborhoods)

[RANDRE]

Hello
My husband and I are considering a move from the Denver, Colorado area and we are looking for new jobs in a few places, and the Portland, Maine are is one of them. We both are looking to get away from this big of a city--however we are not up for a huge culture shock as to move to some super rural area. If we come, we would absolutely look at living in the city. We did look around on line at the housing market in the city of Portland and we are confused as how the heating works. What is up with heating with oil? We use gas here, so this is something very new to us!! The more research we do about the Portland area we are excited about the possibility of living there. We realize the winters are cold, but the rest of the year is sounds perfect!!! We have two small daughters (3 and 1 years old) and we are looking for a great place to raise our girls in a nice community that still allows us access to things to do.

[Shuffler]

Have you spent any time in Maine? This forum is helpful and the people are great, but nothing beats actually spending time out here and seeing for yourself. Any opp you might have to spend time in Portland would be good...

I am hoping to move out here from CO in the spring....so I'm here for a few weeks telecommuting for work and just checking things out in Knox County.

[erteel]

A lot of places are heated with oil, I think that is because we get tankers oil right into the ports here, which for a long time was a good thing. The economy of Portland may be best described a slow, but steady. The City itself is great, though fairly small so not all the excitement of a big city. But for its size, there is quite a bit to do. Lots of info here: Portland Maine

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by RANDRE

My husband and I are considering a move from the Denver, Colorado area and we are looking for new jobs in a few places, and the Portland, Maine are is one of them. We both are looking to get away from this big of a city--however we are not up for a huge culture shock as to move to some super rural area. If we come, we would absolutely look at living in the city.

Congratulations! I think you'll love Maine. I grew up in eastern NM, but I spent a lot of time in your part of the world as a kid. I have family in Ft. Collins, so I know your area well. In my opinion: Maine is better.

If you're wanting to move to Maine but stay in a fairly urban environment, then your choices are Portland, Bangor, Lewiston/Auburn, and Augusta. All of which have nice smaller towns around them, so you could still live in a quiet community within easy driving distance of a city.

If you get hungry for a real big city, you can always take the train from Portland to Boston.

You really should visit before you move though. Look before you leap. Make sure this is your idea of home.

Originally Posted by RANDRE

We did look around on line at the housing market in the city of Portland and we are confused as how the heating works. What is up with heating with oil? We use gas here, so this is something very new to us!!

Most homes up here were built with oil, back when oil prices didn't cost you a leg. Things are beginning to change. You can find homes with natural gas heating, if you look. Where we live in Brunswick (about half hour from Portland), now that there are some natural gas lines in town, people are converting.

Other heating options...

Electric. I know people who do it, and I wouldn't recommend it. It isn't all that much cheaper than oil.

Propane. More and more people are doing this. Definitely cheaper than oil. But make sure your tank and system are well maintained. I read too many horror stories about exploding propane tanks.

Pellet stoves. Becoming VERY popular. Much cheaper than oil or gas. The only real drawback is that most pellet stoves still use electricity to circulate the heat. If your power goes out (and it likely will at least once during the winter), then your system has a battery backup.

Wood stoves. Also becoming more popular.

Originally Posted by RANDRE

The more research we do about the Portland area we are excited about the possibility of living there. We realize the winters are cold, but the rest of the year is sounds perfect!!!

I think you'll love it. We do. But you really should visit before moving.

As for the winters, there is definitely winter here, but I don't know that it's all that much colder than Denver. The winters here are probably longer and definitely MUCH wetter, but on average probably not all that much colder.

Last winter, we got our first good snow the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we didn't really see the grass again until April.

But all the locals tell us it was an unusually harsh winter. The winter before, they didn't get snow until well into January. So it really varies from year to year.

Summers are warm with occasional spells of true heat. But it's the humidity that is real torture. We got by this summer without A/C, but I'm saving my pennies to get one for next summer.

Autumn is absolutely glorious. Best time to see it around Portland is probably mid to late October.

Spring, at least in my experience so far, is very brief. It's like winter ends and summer starts.

Originally Posted by RANDRE

We have two small daughters (3 and 1 years old) and we are looking for a great place to raise our girls in a nice community that still allows us access to things to do.

With all of the urban areas of Maine, there are definitely neighborhoods you'll want to avoid, and Portland is no exception. But I think if you'll invest some time into looking and asking around, you'll find a place to call home.

Maine really is the way life should be!

[Shuffler]

Portland is a really cool place...the old port area is great. What wasn't so great was taking a walk around the city park and seeing derelicts and bums and trash everywhere. Even saw some human feces next to a tree. That was really nice on a Sunday after-breakfast stroll...

City life ain't for me.

[dubthang]

RANDRE - I am in the same boat as you, but am paddling the other way

I am leaving Portland, and perhaps headed to Denver. My gf is looking into schools, and I am pushing her towards Johnson and Wales in Park Hill.

I love Portland. This is the third time I've lived here. The times are getting tough around here though. Oil heating costs are through the roof right now. It is actually cheaper to rent in town with electric heat then oil heat. I currently have natural gas, and am paying over $100 a month, and its not even cold out yet.

The winters are quite a bit different here too, from what I've read. We have things like ice, black ice, frozen rain, and frozen rain on top of ice on top of black ice. The snow isn't fluffy. Portland tends to be very windy and rainy in the winter too. There are winter parking bans in which if you park on the street, you must move your car to a designated lot for the night. Then remove it in the morning before you get ticketed.

There is plenty to do here. The town is very walkable. It takes 50 minutes to walk from East End Beach to the Western Prom. Generally, most places can be reached on foot in under 30 minutes. There are hiking trails (Portland trail system), light houses, beaches, parks, bars, civic center, art museum, colleges, etc.

Good jobs can be scarce. I am currently a heavy equipment operator. In most places, I'd make well over $20 an hour. Around Boston, I'd make over $40. Here I make around $15. The economy is what it is. Portland has a large blue collar population. People work hard for the little money they make here.

Where in Denver are you moving from?

[RANDRE]

dubthang--
We currently live in Thornton, a smaller town just north of the main city of Denver. It only takes us about 15-20 minutes to get right into downtown Denver. We are very familiar with Johnson and Whales---it is a great college. What does your GF want to study? I have experienced great things with the culinary program there!!! We both work for a school and Johnson and Whales had some students come from the culinary department to do some "healthy snack" classes with some of our students!!!
Park Hill is a nice area-- lots of old homes in that part of town. If you come this direction be careful of neighborhoods near the school---some can get a little "ghetto" so be sure to take your time to find the right place. Thornton is nice---a little less expensive than places closer to the main city---from here it should take less than 30 minutes to get to J&W, but you can certainly find things closer!!! Good luck you to on your new adventure!!! :-)

[genmomto5]

If you can find something with alternative heating that would be best. We are 2 days in to our second year in our house in Portland. I love being able to walk to so many pre-school activities. If you'll be home with your kids full or even part time budget for a Children's Museum membership.

We have a city run playgroup that is only a few blocks away, which is only un-walkable in the worst weather. This is a sanity saver in the winter, mostly. One of the things about moving that hit us kind of hard was the geographical differences in immunity. I nursed all my kids and they all got the immunities tha made them get less colds and such. But we moved here and it seemed that for the first 5-6 months every time the little ones were healthy enough to leave the house we'd pick up another cold. We just were not immune to many of the cold germs up here. I don't know what you could do to avoid this but maybe knowing it could happen will make it a bit easier to bare. I just about lost my mind last winter.

One more thing, a good site for parents in this area of Maine is A destination for busy Maine moms to learn, share, connect and express themselves - RaisingMaine.com

[Shuffler]

Dubthang, you might look into a gig with CDOT or consider the Western Slope where all the oil & gas activity is booming...depending on what kind of heavy equip. you're certified on. Also look for the cost of natural gas to spike in Colorado after they complete the Rocky Mtn Express pipeline which will take a lot of that gas to the Midwest and beyond.

[dubthang]

RANDRE -
Thanks for the info. I have read a lot of good things about Thornton. Slightly ghetto doesn't bother us either. We have lived in far worse, I assume. My gf is looking into pastry arts at J n W. She has def. has the skills. She just needs to get the motivation to pull the trigger.

Originally Posted by Shuffler

Dubthang, you might look into a gig with CDOT or consider the Western Slope where all the oil & gas activity is booming...depending on what kind of heavy equip. you're certified on. Also look for the cost of natural gas to spike in Colorado after they complete the Rocky Mtn Express pipeline which will take a lot of that gas to the Midwest and beyond.

I currently work for a public works now, and have thought about the CDOT. Just thought about it though. Haven't put a huge amount of effort into looking for a job yet since we aren't 100% on moving their yet (I'm 100%, just working on the gf). I am actually nationally certified on most all major heavy equipment. A certification isn't even necessary in this field of work, but I feel it helps to know what I'm doing. Keeps everybody safer too.